Horizontally and vertically adjustable photoelectric sound head



ilw- 24, 1946. M. M. IBORRA 2,413,051 HORIZONTALLY AND VERT'ICALLY ADJUSTABLE PHOTQELECTRIC SOUND HEAD Filed Feb. 24, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l a i i -69.

M lMlboz-ra I Dec. 24, 1946. M. M. IBORRA 2,413,051 EORIZONTALLY AND VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE PHOTQELECTRIC SOUND AHEAD Filed Feb. 24, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HQQ.

Patented Dec. 24, 1946 HORIZON TALLY AND VERTICALLY ADJ UST- ABLE PHOTOELECTRIC SOUND HEAD Miguel Martinez Iborra, assignor to Fonoband impresiones Sobre Ba Aires, Argentina,

Buenos Aires, Argentina,

Sociedad Anonima Fonondas De Papel, Buenos a corporation of Argentina Application February 24, 1944, Serial No. 523,713

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in sound reproducers, for the reproduction of sound records printed or engraved on hands or ribbons of paper or other flexible material, either opaque or transparent, and essentially has for its'object to provide in apparatus of this kind certain improvements, whereby important advantages are secured in the operation and use of the same.

The improvements which form the object of this invention may conveniently be applied to any type of apparatus for the reproduction of sound records printed or engraved on ribbons or bands of flexible or bendable material, obtained according to any known system or means, and is substantially characterized by the provision in apparatus of this kind, of one or more sound reproducing units, each consisting of a source of light, a photoelectric cell and a reflecting plate, arranged at three fixed points which in relation with each other, form a suitable angle between incident and reflected beams.

A further improvement characterizing this invention consists in that the several elements of said reproducing units form an integral block, provided with means for performing the motion of said units individually or together in a vertical and horizontal direction by the operation of a double acting device, or by means of separate control.

Another object of this invention consists in the provision of a feed roller adapted to operate independently of or in cooperation with a pressure roller, for causing the feed or advance of the sound record ribbon at a practically constant linear speed, independently of any variation in the diameter of the coils formed :by said ribbons or bands as wound up on the reels. v

The present improved type of apparatus is also characterized by being provided with means for varying the speed of the sound record ribbon by suitably interchanging the feed roller used and its diameter. v

The improved type of apparatus is also provided with means adapted to control different signal lamps for the purpose of automatically indicating which sound tracks or grooves are being traversed by the reproducing unit, in the case of bands or ribbons provided with two or more sound grooves.

The invention also has in View other objects which will more fully be understood from the following specification. I

In order that the invention may be readily understood and carried into practice, a preferred embodiment of thesame has been shown, by way of example, in the accompanying illustrative drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a sound reproducer providedwith the devices in accordance with this present invention, consisting, in the embodiment of Fig. 1, of a single reproducing unit.

Figure '2 is a partial plan view of an embodiment of the same sound reproducer, provided with two reproducing units and showing the means for the control or connection of the principal elements, and

Figure 3 is an elevation, partially sectional, on

the line AA of the foregoing figure.

Similar ntunbers of reference have been used to indicate like or corresponding parts in the several views.

With reference to the drawings and the construction there shown, the reference number I indicates a carrier or loading plate carrying a loading reel Ell on which is wound the flexible band or ribbon 2 of paper or plastic or other flexible material, provided with the engraved or printed sound record which, after passing in front of one or more sound reproducing units by the action of suitable feeding means, winds on the winding or take-01f plate 3 carrying takeoff reel 49, being guided in its travel by a suitable number of guide rollers 4, conveniently arranged.

The shaft 5 of the carrier or loading plate 1 and loading reel 5!] is mounted to turn idle but has a frictional engagement therewith, and is caused to rotate by the tension of the sound record ribbon 2, thereby allowing of varying at will the unwinding speed of the ribbon, by which meansthe quality of the reproduction may be highly enhanced. The shaft 5 is also provided with a brake device, not shown, which may be of any convenient or known kind, for the purpose of maintaining said ribbon in a condition of constant tension, adapted to be adjusted at will.

Referring to said figures, it will also be seen that the reproducer unit, the feed means for the sound record ribbon, and the means for controlling the same, are supported on a horizontal plate 5, secured to the frame I of the apparatus by means of screws 8 or the like. The loading reel 59 is journaled on an arm 51 carried by frame I.

The sound reproducing unit in accordance with this invention substantially consists of a luminous source or exciting lamp unit'S, in front of which is axially arranged a reflecting plate ii] for supporting the band or ribbon 2 during its passage in front of the said exciting unit, and

a photo-electric cell H, placed in the direction of the light beams reflected by said band after their incidence on the sound groove or track engraved or printed on the same, the said three component elements being arranged on a horizontal base or frame plate I2 so as to form together an integral block with three fixed points, provided, as will hereinafter be explained, with means for vertically or horizontally displacing the same, either independently or together by individual or combined manual means of control.

The source of light 9 consists of an exciter, of the usual type, adapted to project through a slot and by an optical system, not shown, an incident beam of light l3 on the reflecting plate l8, said plate being arranged between said source of light and the photoelectric cell H in such a position that the reflected beam l4 will so issue from the surface of reflecting plate It] as to fall on the photo-electric cell and form with the incident beam l3 an angle of adjusted amplitude and best suited for a perfect reproduction.

With reference to Figures 2 and 3, it will be seen that the plate 12 which supports the optical system just described, is connected by its lower face to a slidable device, substantially consisting of a fixed plate l5, fixed to the plate 6, above referred to and provided on its upper face with oblique and parallel ribs |6, in which are formed dovetail shaped grooves or slots H, in which slide ribs or teeth l8, of corresponding shape, formed on a plate l9, so as to guide the displacement of this latter in a horizontal direction, and in an oblique or slanting direction with regard to the axis of the exciter lamp 9.

To the upper face of said plate I9 is secured by means of screws or the like, a thin plate 20, and through the four corners of said plate 20 extend tubular bushings 2|, in which slide a similar number of cylindrical rods 22, fixedly attached to the supporting plate or base l2 of the reproducing unit, so as to serve as guides for the sliding motion of the reproducing unit in its vertical rise or descent. Normally, said base plate l2 and the members fixedly attached thereto are maintained in their lowermost position by the action of springs 23, arranged between each of the aforesaid bushings 2| and small washers 24, affixed to the free ends of the guide rods 22 and constantly pressing with their lower faces against the periphery of one or more eccentric discs 25, formed integral with a shaft 25, rotatably mounted in a supporting member 2's, secured to the plate 20, above referred to.

The feed mechanism of the ribbon or band 2 substantially consists of a feed roller 28, of rubber or other suitable material, of which the pinion 29 is synchronously driven by the pinion 30 of the winding or take-off plate 3, as by means of an electric motor or the like, arranged to drive one of the said pinions through a suitable speed reducing device. Adjacent to said roller 28 is arranged a pressure roller 3|, which operates as a guide means for the band or ribbon, being adapted to engage with the former roller 28 and cause, by the friction between both rollers, the feeding of said band or ribbon.

With reference to Figure 2 it. will further be seen that said pressure roller. 3| is rotatably mountedat one of the ends of an arm 32, pivotally connected at its opposite end to the plate 6, by means of a spindle 33 -or the like.

The displacement of the optical system which constitutes the reproducing unit, may be performed in a simultaneous manner with the motion of the pressure roller 3|, to which end a control knob 34 is rotatably mounted on the plate 8, and two connecting rods 35 and 36, pivotally connected to said knob 34, are linked at their opposite ends respectively to the supporting plate 12 of said unit, and to the arm 32 of said roller 3|.

On the free end of the shaft 26 of the eccentric 25 is mounted a lever or eccentric disc 31. conne'cted'by means of a connecting rod 32 to an-- other control knob 39 or, if desired, to the same knob 34, above referred to, so as to allow, in this latter case, of the simultaneous control of all the'adjustable elements of the apparatus.

From Figure 2, it will be seen that the spindle 4|] of the knob 39 is mounted for longitudinal sliding motion in the slot 4|, formed in the plate 8, being connected to the control knob 34 by means of another connecting rod 42, or the like. If desired, a disc 43 of insulating material may be mounted on the spindle 40 of said button, and on said disc a series of contacts 44, electrically connected by means of leads 45 to small electric lamps may be provided, a contact finger 46, fixedly carried by knob 39, being adapted to travel over said contacts.

From Figure 1 it will be seen that the band or ribbon 2, when unwinding from the loading reel 58 carried on supporting plate 4, will be guided to travel over the reflecting plate Ii), with its face provided with the sound grooves or tracks directed toward the incident luminous beam I3 projected by one or more light sources, and being constantly urged along by the action of the feeding means, it will be caused to pass between the rollers 28 and 3| and to finally wind on a take-01f reel or spool 49, fixed on pinion 30 of the winding or take-off plate 3.

The speed of the band 2 will of course be determined by the diameter of the feed roller 28; in consequence, and in order to be able to vary said speed at will, this feed roller 28 is mounted in a detachable manner, so that it may readily be replaced by another roller of a different diameter. It will be evident that when performing such change, the distance separating the said roller 28 from the pressure roller 3| will also be varied, but such distance can not exceed the thickness of material formed by the band 2; in order to overcome this difficulty, it will be sufiicient to rotate the knob 34 which by means of the connecting rod 36 will cause the rotation of the arm or lever 32 around the spindle 33, whereby the pressure roller 3| will be carried to the position shown by full lines and the separation between said pressure roller 3| and the feed roller 28 will be adjusted to the desired degree.

By means of this arrangement, a suitable feeding motion with a constant linear speed of the band 2 will be assured, at any desired speed. At the same time, the speed will be prevented from varying with the variation in diameter of thecoil of roller as said band passes from one plate or reel to the other.

Simultaneously with the rotation of the control knob 34 for causing the displacement of the pressure roller 3|, to compensate for the changed diameter of feed roller 28, the connecting rod 35, secured to said knob, will cause the transverse displacement of the base plate |2 and of the reproducing unit which forms a part of the same, this plate and unit then passing to occupy the position indicated by full lines in Figure 2, while the adjacent connecting link 42, by acting on the spindle '40 of the second knob 39, will cause the displacement of the same along the slot 4| of the plate 6.

In the case where bands or ribbons provided with several parallel sound grooves or tracks are used, so as to cover different longitudinal zones of the same band, a vertical displacing motion may readily be transmitted to the reproducing unit, so that the beam emerging from the exciter lamp 9 will fall on the desired sound groove as of the lower, the middle or the upper part of said band. To that end, it will be suificient to rotate the control knob 39, which by means of the connecting rod 38 and eccentric 31 will cause the rotation of the shaft 26 and eccentric 25 aifixed thereto, whereby these latter eccentric members, by pressing against the lower side of the plate l2 which serves as a base or support for the reproducer unit, will vary its vertical position in the manner required. At the same time, the contactor finger 46, through the contact members 44 and leads 45, will light, according to he position of said finger, a proper signal lamp arranged in openings or windows, not shown, so as to indicate which groove or sound track which is being traversed or reproduced.

If desired, the control knob 39 may be dispensed with, in which case the vertical displacement of the reproducing unit may be performed from the same main knob 34, which for that purpose will be provided with a double acting control.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the apparatus is supposed to be provided with additional sound reproducing devices, which also may be either fixed or movable, for simultaneously traversing and reproducing two or more different sound tracks of one single reproducing band, which will allow of reproducing independently or together a song and a musical accompaniment, engraved or printed separately, as well as of simultaneously reproducing an event and the hour at which the same took place, and other difierent effects.

Besides the advantages resulting from the arrangements as above described, the improved type of apparatus in accordance with this invention offers the further advantage that the fixed relation existing between the three component elements of the reproducing unit formed by the exciter, the reflecting plate and the photo-electric cell, arranged as an integral block or unit, allow of obtaining a perfect adjustment of said unit apart from the rest of the apparatus, since after adjusting to the desired degree the relation between the said three elements, the same may be readily inserted into the reproducing apparatus without altering its operation, this being a feature of considerable importance for the manufacture and use of the apparatus here described.

On the other hand, the separation which can be provided between the pressure roller 3| and the feed roller 28 allows of the motion of the band 2 taking place in a reversed direction, which is a most important feature since it enables the operator to repeat, at will, the engraved or printed phrases or musical pieces.

If necessary, the novel type of apparatus may also be provided with an electrical resistance, conveniently inserted in the circuit of the motor, or with a suitable brake device adapted to operate in the same direction of motion, so as to obtain any convenient or necessary delay in the feeding motion, for the transcription of engraved or printed text.

From the foregoing description, the invention will have clearly been understood and no further explanations will be required by those skilled in the art.

It will be evident that various modifications of construction and detail may be introduced, without departing from the scope of this invention, as clearlydetermined in the claims hereto annexed.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a system for reproducing sound from a record impressed flexible tape having a sound track, a supporting frame, a loading reel and a take-off reel, a first vertical pin whereon said loading reel is freely mounted, a second vertical pin whereon said take-off reel is fixedly mounted, said pins being mounted vertically on said frame, a record impressed tape having a sound track and being carried on said reels, path defining means defining a tape path from said loading reel to said take-on reel, a reproducing unit plate, an exciter lamp source, a photo-electric cell, a reflecting guide element, said source, said cell, and said guide element being fixedly mounted on said reproducing unit plate as an integral unit, said reflecting guide element being positioned on said plate to guide said tape over said guide element with the sound track on said tape in position to reflect the incident beam from said source as a reflected beam upon said cell, and mounting means for controllably displaceably mounting said plate on said frame in such manner as to be readily removable therefrom as a unit, said mounting means comprising means for controllably displacing said plate horizontally on said frame, and means for controllably displacing vertically said reproducing unit plate.

2. In a system for reproducing sound from a record impressed flexible tape having a plurality of parallel sound tracks, a supporting frame, a loading reel and a take-off reel, a first vertical pin whereon said loading reel is freely mounted, a second vertical pin whereon said take-oil reel is fixedly mounted, said pins being mounted vertically on said frame, a record impressed tape having a plurality of parallel sound tracks and being carried on said reels with its breadth dis-- posed vertically and its sound tracks displaced vertically from each other, path defining means defining a tape path from said loading reel to said take-off reel, a reproducing unit plate, an exciter lamp source, a photoelectric cell, a reflecting guide element, said source, said cell, and said guide element being fixedly mounted on said reproducing unit plate as an integral unit, said reflecting guide element being positioned on said plate to guide said tape over said guide element with a sound track on said tape in position to reflect the incident beam from said source as a reflected beam upon said cell, and mounting means for controllably displaceably mounting said plate on said frame in such manner as to be readily removable therefrom as a unit, said mounting means comprising means for controllably displacing said plate horizontally on said frame, said mounting means further comprising means for controllably displacing vertically said reproducing unit plate and said source and said cell carried thereon to vertically position the incident beam from said source in register with a desired one of said sound tracks on said tape.

3. In a system for reproducing sound from a record impressed flexible tape having a plurality of parallel sound tracks, a supporting frame, a loading reel and a take-off reel, a first vertical pin whereon said loading reel is freely mounted, a second vertical pin whereon said take-off reel is fixedly mounted, said pins being mounted vertically on said frame, a record impressed tape having a plurality of parallel sound tracks and being carried on said reels with its breadth disposed vertically and its sound tracks displaced vertically from each other, path defining means defining a tape path from said loading reel to said take-d reel, a reproducing unit plate, an exciter lamp source, a photo-electric cell, a refleeting guide element, said source, said cell, and said guide element being fixedly mounted on said reproducing unit plate as an integral unit, said reflecting guide element being positioned on said plate to guide said tape over said guide element with a sound track on said tape in position to reflect the incident beam from said source as a reflected beam upon said cell, and mounting means for controllably displaceably mounting said plate on said frame in such manner as to be readily removable therefrom as a unit, said mounting means comprising common means for controllably displacing said plate horizontally and vertically on said frame to vertically. position the incident beam from said source in register with a desired one of said sound tracks on said tape.

4. In a system for reproducing sound from a record impressed flexible tape having a plurality of parallel sound tracks, a supporting frame, a loading reel and a take-off reel, a first vertical pin whereon said loading reel is freely mounted, a second vertical pin whereon said take-off reel is fixedly mounted, said pins being mounted vertically on said frame, a record impressed tape having a plurality of parallel sound tracks and being carried on said reels with its breadth disposed vertically and its sound tracks displaced vertically from each other, path defining means defining a tape path from said loading reel to said take-off reel, a reproducing unit plate, an exciter lamp source, a photo-electric cell, a reflecting guide element, said source, said cell, and said guide element being fixedly mounted on said reproducing unit plate as an integral unit, said reflecting guide element being positioned on said plate to guide said tape over said guide element with a sound track on said tape in position to reflect the incident beam from said source as a reflected beam upon said cell, and mounting means for controllably displaceably mounting said plate on said frame in such manner as to be readily removable therefrom as a unit, said path defining means comprising a detachably and interchangeably mounted feed roller and an adjacent pressure roller between which said tape travels and whereby said tape is driven a pivotally supported arm whereon said pressure roller is rotatably mounted, whereby said arm cam be swung to position, said pressure roller to engage feed rollers of different diameters, and common means for controllably displacing said plate horizontally and vertically on said frame to vertically position the incident beam from said source in register with a desired one of said sound tracks and also for controllably swinging said arm to position said pressure roller in desired position for any diameter of feed roller.

5. A system according to claim 2, said mounting means and said means for displacing said plate horizontally comprising a rib projection extending obliquely to the optical path axis from said source to said guide element, said mounting means further comprising an element provided with a groove extending obliquely to said optical path axis and adapted to slidingly receive said rib projection, and means for applying lateral displacing pressure to said reproducing unit plate.

6. A system according to claim 2, said means for controllably displacing vertically said reproducing plate comprising resilient means urging said reproducing unit plate to an extreme position with reference to said frame and rotatable cam means adapted to apply pressure opposing said resilient means for vertically adjusting the position of said reproducing unit plate.

MIGUEL MARTINEZ IBORRA. 

